When You Smile
by Kura and Hana
Summary: Yuzuha Hitachiin takes a business trip to America and meets a surprising little girl. Just a cute oneshot that really has nothing to do with anything. I may continue it, if I can think of a good plot.


**Kura**: I was looking through some old documents and I found this. It has nothing to do with anything, but it's cute and I haven't uploaded anything in a really long time. I'm sorry about that, but college and work takes a lot of time out of my day, and Hana works pretty much full time, so neither of us can get together to write. We are planning to try to take a weekend to power through a few more chapters of Aperio, but we're not sure when that's going to happen. If the inspiration hits me, I may try to write more in it on my own, but that hasn't happened yet. Sorry again, but I hope this at least makes you a little happy. :/

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Yuzuha Hitachiin was having a hell of an awful day. She was taking a trip to America for a business meeting with a company that wanted to sell her clothing line. Yuzuha had tried to keep up her happy demeanor, but it had been incredibly difficult with a baby a few seats away crying the entire international flight; she did not miss the days when her twin boys were that age. Then, running on very little sleep, the woman waited in the terminal for two hours before calling a cab. The company had forgotten to send the car they'd promised her. She arrived at Lucky 7's headquarters, and (thankfully) received dozens of apologies for the vehicle dilemma. The meeting went well enough, but, as she was leaving, a clumsy girl accidentally spilled coffee on Yuzuha's shirt. Thus far, her trip was terrible. Sighing, the woman decided to take a walk to see if she could find any inspiration for a new outfit. She walked until her feet were sore, and finally sat down on a bench in a park. It was nice and relaxing. Yuzuha closed her eyes and leaned back, but the peace didn't last long.

"Hi, lady," said the voice of a young girl.

Yuzuha looked up to see a little blonde with sparkling blue eyes. She couldn't have been any older than Hikaru and Kaoru. Glancing around, she attempted to find the girl's parents, but there was no one to be found.

"Hi," Yuzuha replied.

"You seem sad. Is something wrong?" the girl asked innocently.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, sweetie," the woman replied, smiling softly. She was doing her best not to be annoyed with the child.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"So? Mama said that sometimes all somebody needs is for someone to listen to them. Just listen, that's all. I can do that, if you want. Mama said I'm a good listener."

The little girl smiled up at Yuzuha. She looked like she really wanted to help.

"That's nice of you, but you should probably run along home to your mama," she replied. After all, it was getting late, and it wasn't safe for children to be outside after dark.

"Boy, I'd sure love to do that," the girl said with a sad smile, "but I can't."

"Why not?" Yuzuha was genuinely intrigued.

"Mama had to go away."

"Where?"

The child looked up at the sky, "She had to go to heaven. The nice church man told me that God wanted her to go there awful bad, so he had to take her away. Now she's working real hard to help him with stuff."

Biting her lip, Yuzuha felt her heart break for the little girl. It must have been a horrible thing to lose her mother at such a young age.

"What about your father?" she asked.

"Papa went with Mama. He wanted to make sure he got her there safe. He's a great Papa, ya know?"

"So you have no parents?" That poor girl.

"I just told you, I have Mama and Papa. They're not able to be here now, but if I'm real good, I'll get to see them again someday."

That was the last straw. Yuzuha broke down and started to cry for the little girl. She threw her arms around the child and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Is something wrong, lady?" the girl asked.

"You poor thing!" she cried.

"Hey, hey, I'll be okay." the child assured her.

"How can you say that? How can you keep smiling after everything you've been through? Don't you miss your parents?"

"Of course I miss them, but Mama always said that I look prettier when I smile. She and Papa just wanted me to be happy. I think it made them sad when I wasn't. I don't want Mama and Papa to be sad, so I try to find something every day to be thankful for. That way, I have a reason to smile."

She giggled and flashed Yuzuha an adorable smile. The woman was stunned. There she was, feeling miserable about herself for the day she'd suffered, and this girl had lost everything. Yet, that child refused to let herself be so horribly upset about anything. Smiling softly, she took the little girl's hand and stood up.

"Would you like some ice cream, honey?" she asked.

The girl nodded excitedly. The pair went to a nearby Dairy Queen and each got a small dish of vanilla soft serve. The little girl ate hers a little too quickly, and yelped at the sudden pain in her forehead. Yuzuha chuckled quietly and told her to slow down. Once they finished, the girl hopped out of her seat and began to walk out of the store.

"Wait, where are you going?" Yuzuha called after her.

"I gotta go back to the orphanage. If I don't get back soon, they'll be awful mad," she answered.

"Oh..." the woman really didn't want the child to leave.

"By the way," the little girl replied, "You look real pretty when you smile."

With that, she skipped off down the street. Yuzuha stood there, stunned. It occurred to her a moment later, that she should probably go with the girl to make sure she got to the orphanage safely. When she tried to find her, the little girl was nowhere to be seen. Sighing, the woman hoped to see that girl again.


End file.
